The Founding of the Penny Press: Nothing New Under" the Sun,"" The
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
DOCUMENT RESUME ED 360 650 CS 213 980 AUTHOR Williams, Julie Hedgepeth TITLE The Founding of the Penny Press: Nothing New under "The Sun," "The Herald," or "The Tribune." PUB DATE Apr 93 NOTE 28p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Journalism Historians Association (Salt Lake City, UT, October 6-9, 1993). PUB TYPE Speeches/Conference Papers (150) Historical Materials (060) Information Analyses (070) EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Journalism History; *Mass Media Role; *Newspapers; Political Affiliation; Press Opinion; United States History IDENTIFIERS Historical Background; Journalism Research; *Penny Press ABSTRACT While the founders of the penny press did not set out to establish a truer form of journalism, they did popularize both low prices for newspapers and newspaper economics based on sales instead of political party backing. The history of "The Sun," "The Herald," and "The Tribune" disprove the idea (advanced by journalism scholars) that the penny press (founded in the 1830s) foreshadowed modern journalism. Although these early penny press giants did contribute in some ways to future journalism, their newspapers contained much material that could not be considered modern or innovative. Benjamin Day created the New York "Sun" in 1833 without the backing of any pGlitical party, a distinct handicap in the era of political party sponsored newspapers. The paper cost only a penny, compared to six cent:s for other newspapers. Day constantly attacked other papers in an effort to win a firm spot in Americans' reading habits for the "Sun." He and George Wisner gave it saucy writing and made it manageable in size. James Gordon Bennett, intrigued by the success of the "Sun," founded "The Herald" in 1835, which adopted the successful format of the "Sun." As Bennett saw it, the new paper would essentially solve all the problems of mankind. Horace Greely founded "The New York Tribune" in 1841 with the mission of teaching the true principles of government--a Whig true government--and seeing that they were carried out. Greely offered news and literature, but the 'Tribune's" outstanding feature was its Whig politics. (Ninety-seven notes are included.) (RS) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** The Founding of the Penny Press: Nothing New Under The Sun, The Herakt or The Tribune by Julie Hedgepeth Williams Doctoral Student University of Alabama -PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS Clef U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION tk, CENTER (ERIC) NytAaNnS Po) skrus document has been reproduced as rec.:owed trom the person or organization Originating sl O Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality (07 Points of vie* or opinions stated in this docr.i- TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES ment do not necesSanly represent official INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)" t) Coeftt position Or policy 2 BEST COPY MAW E 1 The Founding of the Penny Press: Nothing New Under The Sun, The Herald, or The Tribune Benjamin was a dreamer who liked to dabble in new ideas that would benefit his printing business. It had occurred to him of late that perhaps people might be tempted to buy a newspaper for a penny. After all, most everyone had a penny in his pocket. However, the idea of selling papers one at a time defied the subscription system thathad traditionally supported the newspaper industry. Ben had thought about that problem and had come up with an answer. Ambitious workers could buy copies of the paperfrom his office at a cheap price and then resell them in the streets for a penny, keeping theprofits.' Benjamin was notBenjamin Day, the acknowledged founder of the penny press movement, although it does sound like him. Day has beenlauded for getting newspapers to all the people by charging just a penny and by having boyshawk them in the streets starting in 1833. But the Benjamin described above was Benjamin Mecom;the paper, The Penny Post of Philadelphia; and the year, 1769. The Post was not a success. Stillother men tried and failed at selling papers for a pennybefore Day's New York Sun succeeded. The Centof Philadelphia died a young death, as did the Bostonian. NewYork's Morning Poststarted out at two cents a copy and quickly went to a penny, but it folded inthree weeks.2 Clearly, Day was not the first American to attempt a penny paper. Like Benjamin Mecom and other penny pressmen before him, Day was trying to make a livingby making his product affordable and pleasing to readers. When he founded the firstsuccessful penny paper, he did not see the penny press as some truerform of newspapers or as the foundation of future journalism. The Penny Post (Philadelphia), 13 January, 1769. 2Frank M. O'Brien, The Story of the Sun (1st edition, 1928; 2nd edition, New York: Greenwood Press, 1968), p. 3. (Page references are to 2nd edition.) That statement flies in the face of conventional wisdom on the penny press. Scholars over and over again have lauded Day as the founder of a brave new world of journalism, a modern world, breaking at last from the peculiarities of the colonial press and the biases of the party press. But Day and two other famous penny pressmen, James Gordon Bennett and Horace Greeley, did not think of themselves as developers of modern journalism. Instead, Day was searching for a way to make his press profitable. Bennett saw himself as an editorial genius put on earth to enlighten mankind -- and he realized the affordable penny press was a good way to spread his gospel to vast numbers of readers. Greeley perceived that the penny press was popular and adapted it to the traditional party press format. Of course, these early penny press giants did contribute in some ways to future journalism, but their newspapers also contained much material that could not be considered modern or innovative. In fact, in their zeal to succeed, they tended to adopt tried and true journalistic forms that were already in use. Literature Review Perhaps because of the fact that scholarship on the penny press started in the heyday of cheap newspapers, early penny press historians consistently saw penny papers as the be-all and end-all of journalism. Here journalism had progressed. Here was journalism's crowning achievement. Here was modern journalism in all of its glory. Frederic Hudson was probably the best-known of early historians to tout the penny press as modern journalism. Hudson had been managing editor of The Herald, one of the penny press's most successful efforts. His 1873 historical work, Journalism in the United States, described the penny press as "The Revolution" in journalism. The Sun pioneered the penny press idea, Hudson said, and The Heraldtook the concept to new heights by transforming the penny press into the independent press.3 3Frederic Hudson, Journalism in the United States, from 1690 to 1872(original, 1873; reprint, New York: Harper and Row, 1969), P. 418. (Page references are to reprint edition.), p. 427. 4 3 Another historian who wrote during the penny press era also saw penny journalism as a modem perfection of an ancient craft. Identifying himself only as "A Journalist," the writer of Memoirs ofJames Gordon Bennett proclaimed proudly that the penny press was a giant and modern institution, thanks to the farsighted founder of The Sun, Benjamin Day. "He it is that began to prepare the public for a profitable and civilizing habit of reading" by making newspapers available cheaply, the author wrote. Like Hudson, "A Journalist" then lauded Bennett as the founder of the independent press.4 Even Horace Greeley, writing his autobiography, recalled the founding of his penny political paper, The New York Tribune, with a mixture of pride and embarrassment. He seemed chagrined that the early Tdbunehad not passed up the old party format. He tried to justify himself by mixing the old-fashioned politics of the early Tribunewith something more modern. He said, "My leading idea was the establishment of a journal removed alike from servile partisanship on the one hand and from gagged, mincing neutrality on the other."5 Similarly, his biographer James Parton defended the Tribune's political stance by claiming that even neutral papers such as The Sun were actually linked to various parties.6 Like Greeley, Parton wished to protect the memory of the early Tribune against comparisons to more "progressive" journalism styles. For some reason, the early and pervasive idea that the penny press was the beginning of modern journalism stuck. Profiling Benjamin Day's newspaper, Frank M. O'Brien's The Story of the Sun said that newspapers came into their rightful piace and form thanks to Day's genius. Day somehow had a gift for knowing what the news should be, as O'Brien saw it. O'Brien condemned editors of pre-penny newspapers for favoring essays over "a first-class report of a kidnapping" and political speeches over "a good street 4"A Journalist," Memoirs of James Gordon Bennett and 1-lis Times (New York: Stringer and Townsend, 1855), pp. 178, 184, 191, 193, and 199. "A Journalist" has, since 1855, been identified as Isaac Pray. 5Horace Greeley, Recollections of a Busy Life (New York: J.B. Ford & Co., 1868), pp. 137 and 141. 6James Parton, The Life of Horace Greeley(New York: Mason Brothers, 1855; reprint edition, New York: Arno and The New York Times, 1970), pp. vii and 192. (Page references are to reprint edition.) 4 tragedy."7 Clearly, O'Brien saw a news-oriented, modern press as the culmination of journalism. Oliver Carlson, profiling James Gordon Bennett in The Made Who Made News likewise saw the penny press as the beginning of a brave, new, and correct world for journalism.